"We told the owners they have to address their situations." – Trustee Dan Whiting
The clock is ticking in Burton Township for the owners of two abandoned homes on Aldersyde Drive.
Township trustees gave the go-ahead Monday to have a private contractor tear down the buildings if the township does not hear back from the owners by Nov. 1.
Trustee Dan Whiting said it is not too late for the homeowners to respond to the township’s request.
“At our next meeting, we will make the final decision to go ahead with the tear-downs,” Whiting said. “Each one of these properties requires separate notifications, so we will handle each of them on a case-by-case basis. It will be like a trial run, to see either how easy or how difficult it is to deal with this.
“We told the owners they have to address their situations,” he added. “If they don’t, then we will do the demolition and put a lien on their properties.”
The township sent out letters to the homeowners at the start of October, giving them 30 days to respond. The township will utilize a private contractor to perform the demolition work, not the township road and maintenance department.
“It’s more than what our road crew can handle,” he added.
The houses are located diagonally from each other.
The most dilapidated house is a 400-square-foot blue frame house with white shutters, constructed in 1901. It is listed as “unsound” and is owned by Robert and Mary Mussell of Crosby Cook Road in Rome Township. The home sits on 0.1 of an acre of property, which is valued at $2,700.
“That place has been abandoned for years,” Whiting said. “We’re worried someone will get hurt, as it is not fenced off or anything. If we get to the point where we demolish the property, we will fence it off.”
It also contains an old horse trailer and a 1960s-era Gulf gas pump, which will not be part of the demolition. He said he has received “tons” of calls about the gas pump, sitting in front of the house. Whiting also said he estimated the house has not been occupied for at least 25 years.
“I’m not sure what we will do about that pump,” Whiting said. “It’s not hooked up to anything.”
The second house, a yellow frame house, sits catty-corner to the blue house. The yellow house abuts a neighbor to the north, who allegedly told trustees he is not happy about the situation, the trustee added.
Russell Township resident Wayne Erickson owns the yellow house, located at 14502 Aldersyde. It sits on 0.1 of an acre and is valued at $1,300.
The township has the ability to demolish homes under Moving Ohio Forward, a state program that reim-burses local communities for demo-lishing abandoned houses.
So far, the program has paid to demolish 3,664 housing units statewide at an average cost of $7,700 per unit. The cost is running higher in Geauga, at about $18,000 per unit, because many of the properties needed asbestos abatement.
In other news, trustees said the Geauga Township Association meeting will take place Nov. 12 at Kent State University Geauga Regional Campus.
Trustees also chose www.burtontwp.com as the URL for the township’s soon-to-be completed website. In May, the township signed a contract with Tim Percic, of Percic Creative Visual Communications, Inc., for $2,600 to construct the website.
“At our next meeting, we hope to have some photos loaded into the website and we will go forward from there,” Whiting said.
